As the sun edged up this morning above the horizon in Easton, it was 23 degrees outside.

The sky appeared blue with some thin strips of white clouds.

But as we've learned this winter, things can change in a hurry.

This time, however, it's going to get warm first, then wet, a WeatherWorks meteorologist said from the company's headquarters in Hackettstown.

Light to moderate rain should arrive by 10 or 11 o'clock this morning in the Lehigh Valley, but warming winds, which were to pick up after dawn, were supposed to heat things up enough that no freezing is expected, Rob Reale explained.

"There's going to be a quick jump" in temperature, he said. "I don't see much of a freezing rain threat."

AccuWeather, for example, shows it at 31 degrees at 9 o'clock and 39 by 11.

The surface temperatures just before 7 o'clock were 25 to 30 degrees, Reale said, adding that it's difficult to get freezing rain after sunrise this late in February. There could be a flake of snow or a pellet of sleet, he said, but it will be mostly rain.

The precipitation should be mostly over by sundown as the temperature rises to 45, and there should be a windy drying time between then and midnight, when the thermometer ticks back below freezing, he said. There could be random spots of black ice, but at best it will be "patchy," Realy said.

The weekend will provide us with out next weather to watch, Reale said. Precipitation could begin as early as Friday night but a coastal storm could form Saturday evening and mix with a dose of cold air to cause problems.